Tim Duncan wasn’t an All-Star this season mostly because he didn’t want to be, the other coaches around the NBA knew that and went with younger faces. But he is still as solid as ever — 15.6 points a game, 10 rebounds a night, a true shooting percentage of 53.6 and a PER of 22. He’s still elite.

“You know over the weekend, that was the whispers that I got. I got a couple of phone calls, one from San Antonio that said that Tim Duncan’s thinking this is going to be his last year. The best, most fundamental big guy ever to play in the NBA, and he leaving would make me very very sad. The San Antonio Spurs without Tim Duncan would be very difficult for me to watch.”

Duncan signed an extension back in 2012 for three years at $30 million, and this last season is a player option.

It would be very Duncan to just decide to leave, but the Spurs have him, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker all under contract for this season and next, the idea that they would make a couple more runs at it with this core plus Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Splitter, then the Spurs would rebuild.

He’s not a public person, he’s not going to talk about what he’s thinking. Maybe after the disappointment of last playoffs and the long grind of this season he’s considering retirement. That said. Duncan may be tired but I’m not sure he walks away from his teammates and organization like that (not that they would hold it against him). I would think he’d finish out his contract.

However, Karl is connected and this would not be totally out of the blue.

I hate that “most fundamental” is the best compliment we can think of for Duncan. He has been an elite defensive stopper his entire career. In 17 seasons with Duncan the Spurs have had a top 5 defense (in efficiency) 14 times. Other three are 8th, 10th, 11th. That’s pure excellence as a team and it starts with the Big Fundamental.

Duncan is currently 20th all time in points scored, 13th in rebounds, and 7th in blocks. He’s a first ballot hall of famer, 4-time champion, 3-time Finals MVP (would be 4 if they counted defense equally), 2-time league MVP, and a true professional. When Tim missed that “bunny” in the paint in game 7 of the 2013 Finals and slammed the ground as he got back on defense, I truly felt terrible for him. The old Spurs played so well they’re practically co-champions. I regret only recently jumping on their bandwagon. They’ve been fantastic for a long time. (How many 50-win seasons in a row?)

Fourteen 50 win seasons in a row. That’s a record. If you count the 50 win equivalent, percentage-wise in ’99, it’s 16. If you disregard that, it’s still 18 out of 20, including the 50 wins in 66 games in the latest lockout season.

San Antonio has only missed the playoffs 4 times since joining the NBA in 1976.

I definitely count the 37-13 season. At the same pace they would have won 60 games in a standard season. At the very least you can’t break up the streak because of it… nobody could go 50-0. So… that’s incredible. I live in Charlotte. The original Hornets had a streak of 12 straight non-losing seasons and I was ecstatic about that. We even sold out 388 straight home games before George Shinn absconded with our team. Anyway, incredible streak.

Sad news if this is his last year. Not a Spurs fan, but I love watching great basketball players, and Tim is still one of them even at his current age.

However, I think he sticks for another year. It’s quite crazy – the Spurs have had to deal with injury issues this year up and down their roster, and the West is more competitive than ever, yet they’re still the second seed in the West.

The Spurs with Duncan are a little too good for me to buy that he’d walk away at this point. He’s not a guy who will linger too long, but I think he still has another great season in him.

I’ll hedge a bit and say if San Antonio goes through another long Finals run but wins this year, he might retire, but barring that, he’ll be back next year.

If Duncan wants to leave, fine. He shouldn’t any longer than he feels like playing; he’s earned that consideration. Do something else.

There is no flash in his game, but he doesn’t deviate from his big an principles. That’s why he is lauded for his fundamentals.

He is not the greatest power forward in history; he is much more than just a power forward. He slips between the center and forward so much, you can’t define him by position as you can’t do with most, if not all of the greatest players.

If TD retires, then I think that everyone would wish him all the best. Clearly an all-time great player (easy top 10-15), he did everything in such a non-flashy way that he is often overlooked or an afterthought, which is the true shame. He’s also a great competitor, while remaining basically humble and respectful of everyone, from everything that I’ve ever seen. So, he’s an all-time great role model as well, IMO.